So I kinda restarted my life last September 2025 (23,F) after 2 years of regular fighting with my father over my forced engineering degree and how he abuses my mom (mostly took out frustration of me not doing well in life on her)..so in last sep after he had a heart attack, we kinda said sorry to each other, I looked after him and I decided to move forward. I had distanced myself from my friends at that time.
So in September I had 2 choices kinda: 1. To continue engineering and take a job in a few months 2. Do M.A from a good institute in Hyderabad and prepare for government exams. I was inclined towards M.A., but didn't take it because (Papa wanted engineering / M.A. looked off / guts / xyz reasons).
And kinda forced myself into a sick/low-placement automation course. I KNEW IT WAS SICK, NO PLACEMENT, NO INTEREST, but still I kinda forced myself thinking I would study some DSA etc. and crack a tech job or something.
Also I wanted to go away from home. (I don't know if it was a good decision because I could have studied at home too, SO YEAH. I went, but I was not feeling okay.)
Was ranting and all on Telegram mental health groups for advice and all, talking to people.
THEN I FOUND MY GUY FRIEND (M, 23) NAME: HARSH, ON TELEGRAM.
ALMOST OCTOBER.
So expressive. Amazing listener, so consistent. Two months into talking to him, purely as friends, he was trying to grow and heal from toxic friends, trying to make his career.
He was in the last semester of his master's. We bonded so well. He had dreams he wanted to work on. Build a business. Open an NGO with his own money in the future. Shared his insecurities, fears with me. Everyday details.
- AROUND NOVEMBER, I TEXTED MY EX-BEST FRIEND AGAIN AFTER ONE YEAR. NAME: PRIYANKA.
WE WERE MOSTLY DISTANCE FRIENDS BUT SHE UNDERSTOOD ME ALWAYS. WELCOMED ME AND SUPPORTED ME AND LIKED THAT I LEFT A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT AT HOME TO BUILD SOMETHING BIGGER. BUT SHE WANTED CONSISTENCY, PROGRESS AND THAT I TELL HER EVERYTHING. WHICH WAS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING AT FIRST, BUT I WAS TRYING.
- Till December 15, HARSH AND I BONDED WELL. PRIYANKA was trying to study together with me, share progress, and everything was good. She was so open about everything in her life and supporting me. Harsh was also willing to study together and get fit together.
He was motivated to study and asked me to decide what government exams I wanted to go for and we ALMOST decided to study and share all our progress together, and he wanted me to take his pets so he could focus while I worked a job. We ALMOST MADE PLANS.
But I was so overwhelmed because 1. I wasn't studying. I was confused about what to do, and I was continuing in a place I hated and I knew had very poor ROI. But I wasn't telling any of it to my friends and trying to cope / hide myself, coming off as UNSERIOUS about my life, confused and insecure, so I was saying no to any real plans, doubting myself and acting unserious.
I wanted to be friends with him and work on our progress but since I have been a LONER and had a bad HISTORY with college, grades and friends, so I was OVERWHELMED.
So I was running from accountability, not studying, and not telling people anything. I was very inconsistent, treating my friends badly by leaving them on seen for days, not talking to them, ghosting, even though they understood, but again and again I wanted to just go away from everyone.
I also had the guilt of not treating such good friends well and hurting them when they even said they don't like such behaviour. But I was all late replies, leaving on seen, not talking about real plans, talking about very unserious matters like memes, politics, gossip and giving vague and unserious answers when asked about career plans and future plans.
Also I couldn't take a job till February because of all this overwhelming feeling. He was also making an SSC plan with me but I said no because I wasn't confident.
What I wanted was...
To make a group of all my friends, study together maybe, talk about life and take good decisions and grow. But I was acting so weirdly, disappearing and overwhelmed, that I became insecure and loser-like thoughts started coming into my mind and I was frequently changing my life plans.
And I was feeling so sorry, so sorry, that I couldn't keep my promises, came off as UNSERIOUS, couldn't treat him nicely and all, and was also neglecting my bestie because of that and hadn't told her about Harsh being a very good friend of mine.
So my friends were putting efforts to connect, but I was so insecure inside.
But I wasn't able to take a fine step in my career. I was so frustrated by my bad decisions and bad timing and I was feeling so bad about myself.
Then from February, my friendship with my bestie Priyanka took a bad turn. She felt that I don't respect her, don't make progress, I lie to her, hide things from her (I was simply not comfortable). And so she got hurt very badly and distanced herself from me.
We were talking politely, but not openly. I was trying to be consistent and over-explain, say sorry again and again, but I was not able to focus on studying and my health because I was so scared that she would go from my life, and it was happening till May-June.
This was affecting my real life, my study plans, my friendship with Harsh, as instead of making plans together and having a good, healthy time, I was venting out to him and making no progress, keeping him confused.
So yeah, insecurities crept in. I kept over-explaining. In June, Priyanka and I even tried to resolve things to some extent and talk, but I was still overthinking every text, every emoji, her late replies.
Now I was trying hard to give her all my details of the day, but she was kinda done with me, and whenever she asked about my interviews, studies, family matters, I always tried to dodge because I was simply not focusing on it.
Whenever Harsh and Priyanka tried to motivate me and ask me about my plans, I always answered vaguely.
Slowly, in the following months, arguments over me not being sincere or leaving them on seen and talking so little became frequent. And even if I was trying to talk to Priyanka, she often replied with only thumbs up and "okay", so I was very uncomfortable.
On Friendship Day, I was so sad my bestie didn't even wish me, and I was so sad I couldn't do anything for Harsh.
Now...
Priyanka and I talk very less, almost once a week, so formally. And Harsh doesn't talk or tell me anything because I am always talking unseriously, and I didn't even introduce him to my friends and family like a real friend.
So the conversations have become extremely limited. It's just good morning, good night, how are you. No meaningful conversation is happening, no plans for the future are being made. We just live in our own worlds, and I feel like the two most important parts of my life have already gone.
Priyanka unfollowed me on Instagram. I don't know if she doesn't want me to be a part of her life or anything, I don't know.
At some point, even my conversations with Harsh will stop because it's been almost one year now. I don't understand whether I will ever be able to introduce him to my friends or not, because I don't have any friends left, and no plan has been completed either.
I wanted so badly to be a good friend to Harsh, for us to go out together, study together, get jobs together...
But I kept getting involved in unserious conversations, kept crying, and now we barely even talk.
Simplified version : by chatgpt
My Timeline — September 2025 to September 2026
September 2025 — Trying to Restart My Life
I was 23 and had spent the previous two years regularly fighting with my father over my forced engineering degree and the way he treated/abused my mother. He often took out his frustration about me not doing well in life on her.
In September 2025, after my father had a heart attack, we both apologised to each other. I looked after him, decided to move forward, and tried to leave the past behind. Around this time, I had also distanced myself from my friends.
At that point, I felt I had two main choices:
Continue engineering and try to get a job within a few months.
Do an M.A. from a good institute in Hyderabad and prepare for government exams.
I was actually more inclined towards the M.A. route, but I didn't choose it because of things like my father's preference for engineering, feeling that an M.A. "looked bad," fear, lack of confidence, and other reasons.
Instead, I forced myself into an automation course that I already knew had poor placement prospects. I had very little interest in it and knew the ROI was bad, but I convinced myself that I could study DSA, etc., alongside it and eventually crack a tech job.
I also wanted to get away from home.
Looking back, I'm not even sure leaving was necessary because I could probably have studied from home. But I went anyway, and I wasn't feeling okay.
\---
October 2025 — I Met Harsh
While I was struggling, I was ranting and looking for advice in Telegram mental-health groups and talking to different people.
Around October, I met a guy friend on Telegram named Harsh.
At first, it was purely friendship.
He was extremely expressive, a very good listener, and very consistent. He was also trying to grow, heal from toxic friendships, and build his career. He was in the last semester of his master's.
We bonded very well.
He had dreams he wanted to work on — he wanted to build a business and eventually open an NGO with his own money. He shared his insecurities, fears, everyday experiences, and personal thoughts with me.
Over time, I became very attached to the friendship because I felt understood and comfortable with him.
\---
November 2025 — Priyanka Came Back Into My Life
Around November, I contacted my ex-best friend Priyanka after almost a year.
We had mostly been long-distance friends, but she had always understood me.
She welcomed me back, supported me, and liked that I had left what I considered a toxic environment at home because I wanted to build something bigger for myself.
However, Priyanka wanted consistency, progress, and openness from me. She wanted me to tell her what was happening in my life.
That was somewhat overwhelming for me initially, but I was trying.
\---
November–December 2025 — Everything Seemed Possible
By December 15, things with both friendships were actually going quite well.
With Priyanka
Priyanka was trying to study with me, share progress, and build some consistency together.
She was very open about her own life and supportive of me.
With Harsh
Harsh was also interested in studying together and getting fit together.
He was motivated about his own studies and career, and he asked me to decide which government exams I wanted to prepare for.
We were almost making a plan to study together and share all our progress.
At one point, he even wanted me to take care of his pets so that he could focus while I worked a job.
We were making plans for the future.
I was excited about the idea of having people in my life with whom I could study, get fit, get jobs, grow, and eventually spend time together.
\---
But Internally, I Was Falling Apart
While everything looked positive from the outside, I was actually extremely overwhelmed.
The biggest problem was that I wasn't studying.
I was confused about my career and deeply unhappy with the course I had chosen. I knew I was continuing with something I didn't like and that had poor ROI.
But I wasn't telling my friends the full truth.
I was trying to hide how badly I was struggling.
I was ashamed of myself and afraid of being judged as unsuccessful or unserious.
Because of my history with college, grades, friendships, and being a loner, I was already insecure.
So when Harsh and Priyanka started asking about my plans and trying to create accountability, something inside me started resisting it.
I wanted their friendship.
I wanted to study with Harsh.
I wanted to grow with him.
I wanted Priyanka in my life.
But I also wanted to escape from anyone who could see that I wasn't actually making progress.
So I started avoiding accountability.
\---
December 2025–January 2026 — Avoidance Started
I became increasingly inconsistent.
I would:
\- Leave messages on seen for days.
\- Reply very late.
\- Disappear.
\- Avoid serious conversations.
\- Give vague answers about my career.
\- Avoid talking about my actual problems.
\- Talk about relatively unserious things like memes, politics, and gossip instead.
\- Say no to real plans because I wasn't confident enough to follow through.
Even though my friends were trying to understand me, I kept wanting to withdraw from everyone.
This created another problem: guilt.
I knew these were good friends.
I knew I was hurting them.
They had even told me that they didn't like this behaviour.
But instead of fixing the underlying problem, I kept repeating the same cycle:
Avoid → feel guilty → apologise/explain → promise to improve → feel overwhelmed again → avoid.
I also couldn't take a job until February because I was so overwhelmed.
Around this time, Harsh was also trying to make an SSC plan with me, but I said no because I wasn't confident.
\---
What I Actually Wanted
Ironically, what I wanted was almost the opposite of what I was doing.
I wanted to create a group with all my friends.
I imagined us:
\- studying together,
\- talking about life,
\- helping each other make good decisions,
\- getting fit,
\- getting jobs,
\- going out together,
\- and growing together.
I wanted Harsh to become a real part of my life and eventually meet my other friends and family.
I wanted to be a genuinely good friend to him.
But I was so insecure and overwhelmed that I kept disappearing instead.
I was also changing my career plans frequently.
I felt like a failure because I wasn't making progress.
And because I felt guilty about not being able to keep my promises, I became even more afraid of being honest with people.
I hadn't even properly told Priyanka about Harsh being such an important friend in my life.
So even though my friends were putting effort into connecting with me, I was emotionally pulling away.
\---
February 2026 — Things With Priyanka Became Bad
From February onward, my friendship with Priyanka took a serious turn for the worse.
She felt that:
\- I didn't respect her.
\- I wasn't making progress.
\- I lied to her.
\- I hid things from her.
From my side, I wasn't necessarily trying to deceive her. There were simply things I wasn't comfortable talking about because I was struggling so much.
But I understand that from her perspective, my behaviour looked like hiding, lying, and lack of respect.
She became very hurt and started distancing herself from me.
We still spoke politely, but we weren't emotionally open anymore.
\---
February–May/June 2026 — Trying to Save the Friendship
I became extremely scared that Priyanka was going to leave my life.
Instead of focusing on my studies, career, and health, a huge amount of my mental energy went into trying to fix the friendship.
I started:
\- trying harder to be consistent,
\- apologising repeatedly,
\- over-explaining myself,
\- worrying about what she thought of me,
\- analysing her replies,
\- worrying about whether she was becoming distant.
Ironically, this made it even harder for me to focus on my actual life.
My career wasn't progressing.
My studies weren't progressing.
My health wasn't getting the attention it needed.
And my friendship with Harsh was also being affected.
Instead of building the healthy friendship I had imagined with him — studying, getting fit, making plans, etc. — I was mostly venting about my problems and remaining stuck.
This also kept him confused because I kept talking about wanting to improve while not actually making much progress.
\---
June 2026 — Things Were Still Uncomfortable
In June, Priyanka and I tried to resolve things to some extent and talk again.
I was trying very hard.
But I was still overthinking everything:
\- every text,
\- every emoji,
\- every delayed reply,
\- whether she sounded cold,
\- whether she was angry,
\- whether she still wanted me in her life.
I also started trying to give her detailed updates about my day because I thought that being completely transparent might rebuild the trust.
But by then, she seemed emotionally tired and somewhat done with the situation.
Whenever she asked about my interviews, studies, career, or family matters, I still often dodged the questions because I wasn't actually focusing on those areas.
The same thing happened with Harsh.
Whenever either of them tried to motivate me or asked about my plans, I usually gave vague answers.
\---
The Following Months — The Distance Became Normal
Slowly, arguments about my lack of sincerity, leaving messages on seen, and talking very little became more frequent.
Even when I tried to talk to Priyanka, she would sometimes reply with things like "okay" or a thumbs-up.
That made me very uncomfortable because I could feel how much the friendship had changed.
I became increasingly afraid that I had permanently damaged it.
\---
Friendship Day — A Small Moment That Hurt a Lot
On Friendship Day, I was really sad that Priyanka didn't wish me.
I was also sad because I felt like I hadn't been able to do anything meaningful for Harsh either.
It made me realise how far things had moved from what I had imagined back in November and December.
\---
Now — September 2026
Now, Priyanka and I barely talk.
We might talk once a week, but it's mostly formal and polite.
She has also unfollowed me on Instagram.
I don't know whether that means she doesn't want me in her life anymore. I genuinely don't know.
With Harsh, things have also become extremely distant.
He doesn't really talk to me or tell me much anymore, partly because our conversations have become so unserious and limited.
We mostly exchange things like:
Good morning.
Good night.
How are you?
That's it.
There are no meaningful conversations.
No study plans.
No career plans.
No fitness plans.
No future plans.
We are basically living in our own separate worlds.
And this hurts me a lot because I remember how close we were and how many things we almost planned together.
I had wanted so badly to be a good friend to Harsh.
I wanted us to:
\- go places together,
\- study together,
\- get fit together,
\- get jobs,
\- grow together,
\- meet each other's friends,
\- and eventually have him become a real part of my life.
But I kept getting caught up in unserious conversations, crying, overthinking, avoiding things, and making no real progress.
Now we barely even talk.
And I'm scared that eventually even this small connection will disappear.
I also don't know if I'll ever be able to introduce him to my friends and family as a real friend because I feel like I don't even have a proper friend group anymore.
None of the plans I had imagined actually happened.
And that is what hurts the most.
I feel like the two people who had become the most important parts of my life — Priyanka and Harsh — have slowly drifted away because of the way I behaved when I was overwhelmed.
And now I'm left wondering whether I can still repair any of it, or whether I've already lost both friendships.....stuck in a job I took in panic ..